Charles Murphy, 82; Manhattan Lawyer Counseled 2 Mayors

By WOLFGANG SAXON

Published: October 30, 1992

Charles F. Murphy, a Manhattan lawyer whose years of public service in New York City and State date to the time of Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, died on Wednesday at Tisch Hospital in Manhattan. He was 82 years old and lived in Manhattan.

His law firm, Murphy & Maviglia, said he died after a long illness.

A native of Manhattan, Mr. Murphy graduated from St. John's University Law School in 1931. He became a legal adviser to Mayors La Guardia and William O'Dwyer, and also served as a city magistrate during both their administrations from 1934 to 1950.

Over the years, he held a wide variety of official positions, including Commissioner of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, and arbitrator for both the American Arbitration Association and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

In 1954, the Comics Magazine Association of America chose him as its first code administrator, a post that was created in part to keep pornography out of comic books through self-regulation. Four years later, the State Supreme Court appointed him a Commissioner of Appraisals. His task was to determine awards for damages claimed by the owners when New York City bought properties for the Delaware Watershed.

Mayor Robert F. Wagner made Mr. Murphy a temporary Justice of the Domestic Relations Court in 1959 and in 1964 asked him to join a Citizens Anti-Pornography Commission.

Since 1953, he devoted his time to his law practice on West 57th Street.

Mr. Murphy is survived by his wife and law partner, Beatrice Maviglia Murphy; a son, Neil F. Murphy of Monsey, N.Y.; two daughters, Maureen Nolan of Huntington Beach, Calif., and Patricia Stodd of San Francisco; a brother, Raymond J., and a sister, Margaret Murphy, both of West Palm Beach, Fla.; and 15 grandchildren.